PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Scarlet Knights won their fourth in a row on Thursday night at Jersey Mike's Arena.

RU rode a second half in which they outscored Northwestern by ten points and hit clutch shots to secure the 63-60 victory over the WIldcats.

Grad forward Aundre Hyatt hit a three-pointer with 56 seconds remaining in the game to give RU a three-point lead. Junior guard Jeremiah Williams sunk a floater which held as the game-winning shot on RU's final possession to secure the win.

Rutgers held Northwestern to its lowest output in a conference game this season, defeating Northwestern 63-60.

Rutgers had an early 5-2 lead but trailed 17-5 after a scoring drought. Northwestern led by as much as 13 in the opening half, but the home team cut the deficit to 34-27 at halftime.

In the second half, RU countered an early Wildcats run with a 10-0 run of its own to cut the lead to 42-41. Northwestern stretched that lead to 51-44, but the Scarlet Knights answered with a 10-0 run to give the Scarlet Knights its first lead since 5-4 in the first quarter at 54-51.

Northwestern was able to tie the game at 58-58, but Aundre Hyatt answered with a key three-pointer, and the Scarlet Knights closed out the win.

Up next the Scarlet Knights head to Minneapolis to take on the Gophers on Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Postgame Notes

• Oskar Palmquist had a season-high nine points and tied his career-high with three three-pointers
• Jeremiah Williams (15 points) scored in double-figures for his fourth straight game, all four games he's played this season
• Cliff Omoruyi had his 10^th game this season with 4 blocks.
• Omoruyi has five games this season with at least five blocks, and has averaged 6.5 blocks over the past two games and 4.3 blocks over the current four-game winning streak
• Omoruyi has 79 blocks this season, currently the 8^th most in a single-season by a RU player.
• Omoruyi (1,179 career points) moved past Jamal Phillips for 26^th all-time at RU and moved into 19^th all-time at RU in field goals
• Derek Simpson had a career-high four steals
• Rutgers' held Northwestern to one field goal in the final 9:44 of the game, finishing on a 19-9 run
• Rutgers made six of its final 10 field goal attempts
• Rutgers improved to 13-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or more
• Rutgers overcame an 11-point second half deficit, leading for just 7:24 in the game as opposed to 30:15 of lead time for Northwestern

With the Victory

• ·  RU has won seven of the past nine against Northwestern.
• ·  RU has a four-game winning streak for the second time this season.
• ·  RU has a four-game conference winning streak for the first time since grabbing four straight ranked wins on Feb. 5-16, 2022.
• ·  RU has consecutive wins against top-3 teams in the league standings.
• ·  Ru improved to 11-3 this season at home, 25-9 over the past two seasons, 34-13 over the past three seasons and 53-14 over the past four seasons.

Postgame Quotes
 
Head Coach Steve Pikiell Opening Statement:
 
"Thank you guys for coming. This was a great environment and a really tough game. Northwestern has a lot of veteran players and Boo Buie is one of the best guards in the country. I thank our fans, it was awesome to have Caleb McConnell in the building, the national defensive player of the year for two years running. Eric LeGrand, Coach Schiano, I thank them for coming. Our cheerleaders, dance team, all of those guys did an awesome job. We were in it the whole entire time, I think we held them to their season low. That's a really good offensive team and everyone up here played well. I give a tip of the hat to Oskar who hasn't played much and gave us huge minutes. Aundre (Hyatt) made huge shots, Jeremiah (Williams) made huge plays, Cliff (Omoruyi) had five blocks, J-Mike (Jamichael Davis) had to chase them around all game. We overcame Mawot (Mag) being called out a couple minutes before the game, Noah Fernandes couldn't play in the second half because he got hurt, Austin Williams hasn't played much and he gave us a few minutes. Everyone chipped in and we got a really great team win. Northwestern's Coach Collins does a fantastic job."
 
Pikiell on Mawot Mag and Noah Fernandes' injury status:
 
"I don't know about either of them. Mawot had his two best practices yesterday and the day before, and right before the game he said he could not play. Hopefully, it's nothing and he's just sore. Noah got banged up too, he hurt his knee and could not go in the second half. That's all I know."
 
Pikiell on achieving a comeback victory:
 
"We have been down and this team just keeps on fighting. Oskar (Palmquist) really helped us in the first half by making some huge shots and cutting their lead to seven. You will be up sometimes, you will be down sometimes. This group is really practicing the right way. We're doing a great job at getting prepared for these games and you never know what obstacle you will face. It just takes everybody to stay alive and I appreciate it."
 
Pikiell on Northwestern's loss of players:
 
"These guys have really good players and we had some players in foul trouble as well. Justin Mullins coming off the bench for them was fantastic and they got great minutes. When one guy is out, a new guy steps in."
 
Pikiell on winning streak:
 
"Any game is important, and to hold this Northwestern team to their season low is a really good sign for ahead. We will just go one game at a time and now we have to go on the road to Minnesota. They play really well. This league never ceases to challenge."
 
Pikiell on guarding Boo Buie:
 
"I don't know if you can call that a strategy when he gets 27 points. I thought he had to work for everything and we needed to have different guys on him. I think he's the best guard in the country and he makes amazing plays, doesn't miss free throws, and is such a hard guy to guard. We did a really good job at shutting down the other pieces around him too."
 
Caleb McConnell Question: On defense:
"I used to learn from you (Caleb McConnell). You started a tradition here. Not just you, but some guys that came before you of guys that want to defend and versatility. That's what these guys have. Good team defenders and good individual defenders. But I miss you and those days of putting you on Boo (Buie). We are just trying to stay on this streak here and we need to do it with our defense. It travels. You know that."
 
Caleb McConnell Question: Pikiell on figuring it out: 

"These guys figure it out. That's what happens. Games aren't played on computers. Referees make calls during games. Guys are hurt. Guys are injured and the guys figure it out. These guys have done a fantastic job of figuring it out and that's what I like the most. No games are played on computers. Keep that in mind. We need to go through the game. We need to make free throws. That KenPom guy, I need to recruit him because this guy has every answer to everything. He's never played and I don't think he shoots well. I don't think he's a good defender but he's got every answer to everything. Still got to play the games."
 
Jeremiah Williams on his block:
 
"The shot clock was winding down and I just had to go make a play. Luckily Derek trusted me with the ball. He made one more and then luckily I was able to get it up there. 
 
Pikiell on Jeremiah Williams: 
"He had opportunities and he can score in a lot of different ways and I like when he gets to the free throw line too. All our guys. Be aggressive. Get down hill. Try to get to the rim. He does a great job at that. He makes plays too."
 
Pikiell on Northwestern:
"Those guys are really good players and they've played great games for them. I think our guys did a great job of watching the scouting report, of being locked in. I think we did a really good job at taking away some of the things that they like to do. But they're good players and they play a ton of minutes. They've got a ton of opportunities. I liked the fact that we were locked in. A lot of different defenders guarded those guys. I think everyone can challenge them a little differently."

Northwestern Head Coach Coach Collins 
 
On Jeremiah Williams:

"Jeremiah Williams made a big-time shot, a running one-handed shot at the end of the clock, which was great defense on the play. You can tell the joy of the game for him to play. Here's a kid who had an Achilles injury, missed a whole year and the first 20 games. I feel like, watching them play these last 3 games and then tonight, that his energy has uplifted the team with his energy. It's giving all of these guys a bit more life. Jeremiah is a great player, we know him well. He's big and strong and can get to the mid-range. He's added a lot to the team and is a great defender. His joy of the game is evident."